the good old days you blew up balloons, got a cake and played pin the tail on the donkey. do kids use real donkeys now. i don't know. at the end of the day, i want kids to have fun. it is a good idea or healthy for the animals. if you want something new throw the clown in the pool and watch the kids laugh and laugh and laugh. thank you for watching. rft rflt begins now. good-bye replacements. a deal with the nfl means the real refs will be on the field tonight. >> can you hear the cheering across the country? and scandal in the u.s. army, a brigadier general who served five tours in iraq and afghanistan accused of sex crimes. a new lead that could solve one of america's great mysteries. the search for jimmy hoffa outside a suburban detroit home. after all these years.

>> no kidding. good morning, everybody, welcome to "early start." we're so glad you're with us on a thursday. i'm alina cho. >> so glad you're back. >> john berman is hosting "starting point" for us today. football fans across the country can go back to cursing out the real referees again because the nfl lockout is finally over. the blown call that blew everybody's mind on monday night, sure lit a fire. the league and its referees reaching a new eight-year collective bargaining agreement. this was late last night. should we call it early this morning? >> early this morning. >> everything is moving quickly. all of this means no more replacement refs. commissioner roger goodell confirming the regular officials will be back on the field tonight when the baltimore ravens host the cleveland browns. jason carroll is here. the league had to move quickly. >> a lot of relief there. >> this was spiraling out of control. >> absolutely. we all remember what happened during that monday night game.

70,000 calls to the nfl because of that one particular play. there was definitely a lot of incentive to get back to the table and get this thing fixed. both sides working late into the night to make sure they could get a deal that both sides could be happy with. reaction coming in early this morning. the nfl commissioner basically saying this agreement supports long-term reforms that will make officiating better, the teams, players and fans want and deserve both consistency and quality in officiating. also coming in to us, reaction coming in also from the referee association president saying we are glad to be getting back on the field for this week's game. it could not have come any sooner, especially with tonight's game with the browns versus the ravens. >> this is an eight-year deal, which sun precedented. who got the better end of the deal? >> there was promise on both sides. i think it's clear, i think a lot of people have been looking at this, i think it's clear the refs got the better end of the deal. you remember over the weekend,

right, the owners are saying there's no more wiggle room, we've given all we can. the refs were opposed basically to having -- switching from their pension to a 401(k) plan. they got to keep their pension and a pay bump. >> was that a big pay bump. >> it's basically from 149,000 a year to 205,000 a year by 2019. that's pretty much of a significant bump. >> i'm curious about the pressure here. they caved to pressure, right who had the biggest pressure applied? was it the fans? was it perhaps las vegas yesterday? because we heard they were actually refund something money. how did it all play out? >> some people are talking about vegas. but really it was the pressure from the fans. one again, 70,000 calls to the nfl. you had the president weighing in on this, mitt romney weighing in about it. there were calls for goodell to resign because he wasn't managing things the way he should have been. it was really the pressure coming in from the fans, from

everyone watching nfl to get this done. >> we all know that a deal is not a deal until the signatures are sign. until we design the papers. is it done? as far as we know, is there any chance this could fall through at this point? >> it has to be ratified by the referees association. but all indications are very clear, this is a done deal. and then we'll get back to having the regular refs on the field. as you said at the top, let's see how long the honeymoon lasts. right? a year from now we'll be back to criticizing them again. >> jason carroll, appreciate that. thank you very much. i'm sure everybody is glad we're having this story on this morning. former nfl referee red cashion joins us in the next hour. the nfl asked him to help train the replacement officials. you know what his response was? >> what. >> no way. we'll talk to him later. an army brigadier general who served five combat tours in iraq and afghanistan faces a

possible court-martial for alleged sex crimes. general jeffrey sinclair has been charged with numerous violations of military law including forced sodomy and inappropriate relationships with female subordinates. he was sent home to ft. bragg back in may because of the allegations. air force one had to abort an issue landing at an ohio airport as it was flying president obama to a campaign event. the pilot deciding to pull up, circle around and try again. reporters on board say the jet hit bad weather and turbulence on approach to toledo express airport. news crews on the ground were a bit confused about what was going on. listen very closely. >> that's really hard to listen there -- or to hear that. moments after this you could hear someone on ground say that was interesting.

air force one did land safely on second try. >> thank goodness for that. the boy scouts of america doing damage control. they've released a study claiming that children were safer from sex abuse in the scouts than they were at home or at school. that study was prepared by a psychiatric expert hired by the boy scouts after a newspaper reported the group failed to report hundreds of suspected child molesters to police. s.n.a.p. calls the scout study ser self-serving and the writing of a spin doctor. the university of california is offering to set a class-action lawsuit to students who were pepper sprayed during a demonstration last year. that incident was caught on camera. the university will pay $30,000 to each student if approved by a court. they were part of an occupy wall street protest on davis campus. this story got my attention last night. the endless search for the

remains of jimmy hoffa focused on a home in suburban detroit. investigators plan to drill underneath the concrete driveway and test soil from the house in roseville, michigan. police say radar detected some kind of anomaly as they're calling it underneath the home. they are working off a tip from a man who claims a body was buried there at the same time the teamster leader disappeared in 1975. police say the test results should be available in the next week. >> wouldn't that be something? not much is known by j.k. rowling except that it is for adults only. casual vacancy goes on sale today and it's a world away from marry and the hogwarts. her new book features sex, drugs and lots of swear words. we'll have a live report from a london book store at the bottom of the hour. >> i can't wait. he was the only boy on the girls varsity volleyball team. right? now the league has changed its

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bny mellon wealth management oh, showers. good morning, new york. how are you on this fine morning? it is 67 degrees right now. a little later we are going to have some morning showers. >> and some daylight. >> yes. and daylight. ten minutes past the hour. palestinians expected to campaign for expanded status at the u.n. today. but stopping short of seeking full statehood right now. israel's prime minister taking the podium just minutes later. foreign affairs reporter elise labott is here with a preview. what can we expect from the president abbas and prime

minister netanyahu? >> with juan was supportive of that in the security council and so he kind of had to go back. he was popular at home but in the international community you saw some resistance to that. this year i think he's going to campaign for this nonobserver's status, kind of like the vatican. i think he understands with the u.s. election right now he's not going to push for a full vote. >> the timing is everything. he doesn't want to try to take away from that? >> prime minister netanyahu, i this i, a lot of people are seeing this as his final warning on iran. he only has one goal in mind. iron is the single topic of the day. i think he's going to warn the world about iran's nuclear program. i think we've been talking this week about red lines that he doesn't want iran to cross before the united states would be involved in military action. i think he's going to lay out what his red lines are and to say to the world, listen, this

is a crisis that the whole world has to deal with. i think this is seen as his final warning that if we done see movement on this issue, israel will have to act. >> i want to talk about the iranian president. i'll let you first eat a little crow. you made a prediction that was wrong. >> i thought -- i said yesterday on this show that i thought ahmadinejad would kind of go for broke, kamikaze in his last u.n. general assembly. instead, he talked about, you know, this new world order that he sees when the world powers would have less influence. but he wasn't as fiery. he didn't mention israel by name. i think a lot of people were surprised. in the statements he was saying leading up to this appearance he was much more fiery. i think in addition to ban ki-moon, the u.n. secretary general asking him to tone it down, i think maybe the supreme leader in iran said you might want to tone it down. there's a lot of tensions in

iran. >> he pointed to a double standard considering weapons in muslim countries versus weapons in israel and the united states. i want you to chime in on this after listening. >> sure. >> translator: no one feels secure or safe even those who have a stockpile of thousands of atomic bombs and other bombs in their arsenals. >> there's a great piece on cnn.com, called the hypocrisy in the middle east. sara sidner has that piece for us. i want your take on that. >> the whole issue is no one says anything about iran's nuclear program. >> right. >> but israel is believed to have about 200 nuclear weapons and no one's really pushing them outwardly on that. everyone has ambiguity. especially the united states. and israel while iran is a signatory to the nonproliferation treaty, israel

is not. one of the fears right now is that iran is going to go nuclear. israel is already nuclear. and then this is going to spark a whole arms race in the middle east. so a nuclear race in the middle east. so a lot of countries now are saying, listen, we have to address this double standard and have a nuclear-free middle east and israel doesn't even want to talk about it. >> i want to get back to ahmadinejad for a moment. we've been saying this is believed to be his last appearance, because he's going to stop down from power at the end of the year. this is a man who's a president but acts look a dictator. he has a big personality. is there any reason to believe this man will go down quietly? >> i think he's prepared to leave office. there's a lot of tensions within iran right now. he's not very popular. several times almost lost his job but has managed to hang on, i think in large part because of his challenging of the west. he serves a useful purpose. i think he mightry to back some candidate that gives him some

kind of influence.country. i think he's ready to go. >> this we won't see any more then. elise labott, thank you. this is a big story. america's long national nightmare is finally over. the nfl and its referees reaching an eight-year collective bargaining agreement last night. that's unprecedented and that means no more replacement refs. the regular officials will be back for tonight's ravens/browns game in baltimore. fbi agents have not yet been allowed into the libyan city of benghazi. sources tell cnn that the crime scene on the consulate grounds has not been secured. sources also tell cnn that the u.s. intelligence community knew within 24 hours of the attack that it was an act of terrorism. yet the obama administration was cautious in saying so and has only started to acknowledge a

terrorist link to the attack. this was in the last few days. on "360" last night, bob baer was asked specifically about that. >> i think it's political. i think the white house is reluctant to admit that libya has been lost or potentially lost. no administration wants to admit that. i think, frankly, we can't blame losing libya on this administration. you know, it was in the works for a long time. there wasn't much it could do. nonetheless we have an election coming up and no one wants to take blame for messing up the arab spring. >> the u.s. ambassador to libya, chris stevens was wrong those killed in that attacks. mitt romney and president obama will both be campaigning in virginia today. they were both in ohio yesterday. you see a trend here? check out the gop challenger in suburban cleveland. getting his hands dirty with the host of discovery's "dirty job" show.

the president also in ohio visiting the campus of bowling green yesterday. he promised to create 1 million manufacturing jobs in the next four years if he is re-elected. new technology may make pumping air into your tires a thing of the past. starting next year, goodyear says it will test technology that actually inflates tires while the car is rolling. here's how it works. a sensor detacts one pressure is low, the car's weight compresses a tube built into the tire that injects air into it until it reaches optimal pressure. no more use for the gauges. >> cars that drive on their own, what is this world coming to? >> i need this right now. my tire pressure is low. i keep putting it off. >> is sara brightman bound for space? space tour adventure says she will make a ground-breaking

announcement next month. trips are cheap, of course, the most recent space tourist paid $35 million. >> wow. >> 18 minutes past the hour. we want to take a moment to make a correction. yesterday we brute you a story about a dangerous type of binge drinking at the university of tennessee frat house. during that story we aired a brief clip of the university of memphis. we did that by mistake and sincerely apologize to memphis for that mix-up. >> it's too that i am of the work. 19 past the hour. time for early reads. from the "new york daily news," a yonkers high school is appealing a late division that prevents a senior male student from playing on the school's all girls volleyball teal. we were pointing out usually it's the other way around. when you're talking about

football certainly. he was allowed to play last season because yonkers has no boys on the volleyball squad. the state now decided to change his mind. they said he would not compete because he's too strong and that would have an adverse effect on the competition. >> 19 minutes past the hour. this is from the nashville telegraph. rare artfy facts from the love struck bandits will be up for auction this weekend. the centerpiece is bonnie parker's infamous squat gun which could sell for as much as $200,000. it's a colt 38 caliber detective special that got the name because bonnie was squatting when they were ambushed by texas rangers. photos of the couple, something you some taken off they were killed are also part of the aungs. it can be a crushing burden

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tell us about the biggest risk to signs of recovery here in the united states. what is it. >> i told you about housing getting better and consumer confidence going up. we'll get a bunch of economic data today and congress hands you a fiscal cliff. the fiscal cliff hasn't even happened yet. i can tell you it is already hurting jobs. ceos of fortune 500 companies are warning they will hire fewer people. the boeing ceo, james mc mcerni. you certainly won't build a new plan. you'll be on hole. this was say survey conducted by the business round table, a lobbying group of the big ceos of top companies. 29% 6 the krezs said they expect to hire more employees.

29%? we need 100% to be hiring. that's down from a 36% in the last quarter. also in the fiscal cliff would be the loss of a tax credit for sending a kid to college. right? fiscal cliff has a lot of different parts of it. >> it's funny. i thought we had to wait until it happened in order to feel the rules. >> it's happening now. a lot of people are telling many he, people in washington especially, don't worry, at the 11th they're going to fix it. i cover companies. i'm saying the 11th hour is too late. the uncertainty in december from a very heated and painful period, when we were doing the debt ceiling debacle, they'll be starting to lobby and they'll start to say we should be looking at simpson bowles, deficit reduction and fix it. i mention there's a tax credit for sending a kid to college. that would be something that would disappear as well. pooug research saying one in five households, a record one in five households owed tune debt

in 2010. in that year 19% of households held student debt. that's a significant jump from just 15% of households in 2007 before the recession. the average student debt, so for a family that has student debt, the average debt is more than $26,000, triple what it was in 1 1989. your incomes aren't budging. you can't borrow tens of thousands of dollars against your house anymore. a lot of people ask me, how am i supposed to be able to send a kid to college? a piece of advice i got from a financial guru. save a third. you need to be saving a third of the college. a third should be loans. only a third should be loans or you will never get out of it. the other third should be grants, scholarships and the kid has to pay. aim to save for a third or you'll shall hurting your chances and the kids chans. >> let the kids save some of the

money they're making to contribute. >> you're welcome. >> if you're looking for wizards in j.k. rowling's new book you're about to be disappointed. coming up, we go live to london where the novel will go on sale there in less than an hour. the ones who make us laugh, the ones with the strong shoulder to lean on, the ones we're named after, and the ones named after us. it takes all kinds of good to make a family. at new york life, everything we do is to help you keep good going. the wheels of progress. seems they haven't been moving much lately. but things are starting to turn around because of business people like you. and regions is here to help. with the experience and service to keep things rolling.

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the nfl strikes a deal. tonight in baltimore the real refs replace the replacements. >> there she blows. look at this. a very rare white whale spotted for the first time in decades. we have all the video for you. >> i love it.

>> not doing it for the kids. mega selling author j.k. rowling's new book aimed at adults and it comes out in less than an hour. welcome to "early start." i'm alina cho. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. 31 minutes past the hour. it was a collective sigh of relief for football fans and fantasy freaks all across america. say so long to the replacement refs. 48 hours after the blown call that sparked national outrage, the nfl reached an eight-year collective bargaining agreement with its referees. they shook on the deal last night. the lockout is officially over effective immediately. so that means the regular officials that you love to hate are back. commissioner roger goodell confirming they willing on the field tonight when the baltimore ravens host the cleveland browns. >> all right. the refs are back and so is j.k. rowling. author who made harry potter a household name has now cast her spell on adults.

her new novel, the casual vacancy will be on store shelves today. and it's about as far from the wizarding world as you can get. the book has just gone on sale in britain. that's where we find cnn's aaron mclaughlin. good morning. they are calling this potter to potty mouth, the huge anticipation for this book is palpable. a lot of the details have been kept secret. you managed to get your hands on it. how did you do that? >> reporter: good morning, alena. yes, i have. i was not one of the few journalists selected to get an advanced copy or to read the book in advance. i got it just like anyone else here in the uk can at this point coming to their local book store. it's also available on e-reader. so far, this book, we have not

seen the frenzy here in the uk that we saw for the launch of the harry potter series. there aren't the long lines. i have yet to see a wizard costume. customers seem to be driven primarily by a curiosity to see what rowling has in store for them next. take a listen. >> well, i think it will be interesting to see how j.k. rowling how she writes something else that isn't harry potter or aimed at children or young people. i've heard lots of things about "casual vacancies" and political satire. it will be nice to see how she pulls it off. >> we're happy to see what else she comes up with. >> reporter: rowling has said she wanted this to be a normal book launch. she said she wanted to avoid

some of the, quote, frenzy that surrounded some of harry potter series. judging from the scene at this book store, that seems to be what has happened. >> she said in a recent interview, she was surprised to think about how much she still thinks about harry. this book is definitely not for kids. we need to make that clear. it's actually pretty racy, isn't it? >> reporter: i don't know about racy. it's not the e.l. james "50 shades" but what we do know about the plot, i'm still reading it. it's centereded in a small english town. the plot revolves around the death of a council member and the drama that ensues in the election to replace him. we do know it involves some things of poverty, involves some racy language if you will. there's bad words in this book. j.k. rowling herself said she

drew from her own personal experiences and in an int inter with abc news last night she talked a little bit about that. >> you've gone, it seems to me, the uhl mat fantasy to the ultimate reality. >> yes, i think that's a very fair statement. i have gone from dragons and unicorns and the fun that's involved in writing that to a book that's intensely personal, that expresses a lot of my reality. >> erin mclaughlin, live in london. thank you very much. go ahead. go ahead. >> reporter: i was just reiterating a personal story, it seems for rowling and definitely not one for children. >> all right.

that store is just about to get very busy in london. just how big is j.k. rowling? that's what we want to know. the seven harry potter books have sold more than 450 million copies worldwide. .eight potter films grossed 7,709 can be 205, $984 to be exact. j.k. rowling herself is worth more than $900 million. >> wow. >> 37 minutes past the hour. he suggested that women can turn off conception in the case of legitimate rain. the congressman todd akin has picked up more support. south carolina senator jim demint and rick santorum urged voters to back akin and help republicans win the senate. central florida wildlife officials say they think they

killed the gator that ripped off an 84-year-old woman's arm. they say carol huck was attacked yesterday morning after falling into a canal. a neighbor noticed her flailing and helped her get out. she's out of surgery and we are happy to report she's in stable condition. there's a major problem with the newly renovated reflecting pool in the nation's capital. the pool only re-opened a month ago following an expensive two-year, $34 million overhaul. that's right. the national parks service says there are a number of reasons for this algae bloom, among them, the reflecting pool draws water from the nearby tidal basin where algae grows naturally. also, algae loves warm weather. >> it's really a shame that they hadn't planned this out a little bit better so you wouldn't have algae growing after all this time and money.

>> the yuck factor is right. the reflecting pool's filtering system is actually trying to remove most of the algae but some of it is also being removed by hand. >> take a look at this, folks. it's an extremely rare albino whale. it's been spotted once again swimming off the eastern coast of australia. researchers have named the whale migaloo and say it is the only all white, full-sized hump back whale in the entire world. he was spotted years ago when he was a juf nil. scientists now believe the whale is in his 20s. this is incredible. they were overcome with emotion when they were talking about this. it's fantastic. >> that's quite a sight. >> get the kids to the tv. we'll show you this video all morning long. >> that's right. it's a brand new age for what used to be called the war on drugs. coming up, cnn in depth on both what president obama and

mitt romney want to do to tackle the problem. that's next. i'm so glad you called. thank you.

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43 minutes after the hour. welcome back to "early start." we have been going in depth on the issues that matter to you, the voter, in 2012. today we're talking about the war on drugs. this year in america, federal and state governments have already spent a combined $30 billion to combat drugs. according to the nonprofit group drugsense.org, 11.1 billion of that money has been spent by the feds. 19 billion by the states with 1.2 million americans already arrested this year for drug offenses. staggering numbers. and everyone involved will tell you, the war on drugs is failing. which begs the question, how would president obama or mitt romney tackle the problem over the next four years? here's john zarrella.

>> reporter: a fishing trawler tries outrunning a coast guard cutter. the crew of the cutter fires its 50 caliber machine gun. >> we've been hit. got smoke. got smoke. >> all right! >> reporter: disabling the trawler. on board, 20 tons of marijuana. this was the mid-1980s. the drug war was at its height. then vice president george bush headed up a task force to fight the problem. >> we have got to do better in interdicting it. >> reporter: in miami, cocaine is found hiden in commercial jets, flowers, even boxes of yams. the problem is, some aren't yams at all, rather plaster casts painted and shaped like yams. insid inside, pure coke. stash houses and drug labs are routinely raided. this was a war on drugs. these days it's not even a war on words. the white house doesn't call it

a war any longer, focusing more on prevention. in this political season, the issue of illicit drugs rarely gets a mention on the campaign trail. when it does come up, president obama and mitt romney appear to be on the same page. >> the president of the united states must make a priority of helping reduce demand in 24 country. >> the united states can focus on drug treatment and prevention. >> absolutely. i agree with that. >> reporter: if anyone should know, it's judge pollock. she presides over misdemeanor drug court in broward county, florida. the idea, you get clean, you avoid a criminal record. >> you've done perfect throughout the entire program. there's no violation of probation. >> reporter: she says drug courts ought to be a priority for the candidates because they reduce drug dependency and save taxpayers millions and she's got the numbers to back it up. a study showed pollock's court saved the county as much as $30

million a year over a five-year period, basically the difference in the cost of treatment and counseling versus incarceration. >> if we can keep them out of the criminal justice system at this level, then we will save billions and billions in prison costs. >> reporter: for the white house, it's a multilayered approach. focus on education and prevention. treat drugs and addiction as a public health issue, not just a criminal justice concern. law enforcement continues choking off the supply. this year, the federal government is spending just over $10 billion on prevention and treatment. law enforcement and corrections, just under ten. mitt romney has not outline how he would allocate federal dollars. but both men say they are not in favor of legalizing marijuana. and both are emphatic that, woulding closely with mexico which has surplant ed is a must.

she says substance abuse can be the result of job loss or tough economic times. >> we live in a society of aggravating stress. so it's only natural that people are going to turn to substances. whatever they may be with be to numb their pain, their stress. >> reporter: ironically, the most talked about campaign issues leading to one of the least. john zarrella, cnn, miami. >> our thanks to john. 47 minutes past the hour. you don't hear this every day. the winner wants a recount. coming up, ranking the top colleges in the country. studying had nothing to do with this survey. if you're leaving the house, watch us anytime on your desktop or mobile phone. just go to cnn.com/tv. the company's bottom line, their very first word was... [ to the tune of "lullaby and good night" ] ♪ af-lac ♪ aflac [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. [ yawning sound ]

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it is 50 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date on the

day's top stories. football fans won't be seeing another replacement ref for at least eight years. the nfl and its officials agreeing on a new eight-year collective bargaining agreement last night. the regular referees back on the field in time for tonight's browns/ravens contest in baltimore. lots happy fans there. a convenience store clerk has quite an arm. look at this. he fought off a knife-wielding robber with beer cans. he threw the beer cans at him. the robber who covered his face with his shirt dropped the knife and the money he was planning to take as he ran away. >> wow. >> police were able to identify the suspect. he was arrested at his home and charged. >> i don't mean to laugh. >> is this a great way for you to start your day? look at this. look at this. >> good for him. >> he has a great arm. that guy was charged with battery and armed robbery. >> good. >> look at all the money that falls out. fantastic. >> it's right there in the store where it should be.

the new jaguar f-type sports cars expected to, unof the main atracks when the paris auto show opens its doors to the public this weekend. organizers are jittery. car sales in europe are down for their fifth straight year. and the french all the toemaker pug 0. t just announced plans to shut down a major factory, eliminating 8,000 jobs. playboy's number one party school wants a recount. that's right. the university of virginia earned the quote, unquote, honor. the rankings are based on sex, sports and night life acoring to playboy. a spokesperson says uva isn't happy about it. you think? it's far more important for the university to be known for academic achievements in training and research. it is a great school, uva. the top ten party schools include southern cal, florida, the university of texas and wisconsin. also georgia, vanderbilt, tulane, texas christian and ohio state.

so let's check in for today's weather with rob marciano. did you know about this list? >> i no longer subscribe but i've heard about this list. i'm surprised that cornell is not on there, quite frankly. good morning. >> what was the top school? >> vanderbilt, uva great schools academically. east of new haven pretty much dry right now. morristown, new jersey, experiencing heavy rainfall. some of this getting into harristown as well and back through the west, the ohio river valley, back through the missouri and mississippi river. right around the boot hill of missouri is where we're seeing thunderstorms that are dumping heavy rain. rain will take it, much immediate needed across parts of oklahoma. this is the stretch of real that will see showers and thunderstorms which may be severe, putting down some large hail.

around the pan hand of texas and oklahoma. stretching around the front of colorado. this front not moving quickly. north of it dry, south of it warm and humid for this time of year. temperatures feeling summerlike in memphis. 70 degrees in new york city. keep your umbrellas handy. >> all right, rob, thank you very much. we have a packed hour ahead on "early start." we are all complaining about them in a couple of weeks or we have been, rather. for now we're happy to have the real refs back on the field. we'll be talking to legendary former official red cashion who is training the current referees. he'll be talking to zoraida. plus, a teen in a sheet an a black mask walking up and down the street with a rocket launcher on the streets of phoenix? it was all a hoax to prove a point. the man who put the kid up to it is in a whole lot of trouble. get ready to learn that anything is possible. first he beat cancer, then he

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the boys of late night took a few parting shots at the replacement refs. take a look. >> next month stevie wonder will perform at a fund-raiser for president obama and after that stevie will return to his other gig, an nfl replacementment.

>> iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad gave a big speech at the u.n. today. he was actually applauded. yeah. of course he did start his speech by saying these replacement refs suck! >> i tell you, these replacement refs are bad, they're bad. >> how bad could it zblb if they were players, they'd be the cleveland browns. that's how bad. ♪ >> the media has taken a stand on an issue of this day and said, let's bring our boys home. bring them home. to the nfl, because mr. goodell, tear down that wall. look, america finally learned what it would take to quickly set a labor dispute. a blown offensive interference call and interception call that cost the green bay packers a victory but caused one unnamed american who had taken the packers loss while giving the

poi points, and one man walking around the office wearing a seattle seahawks jersey and a thong. >> easy target, right? "early start" continues right now. good-bye replacements. a good-bye, replacements. a deal with the nfl means the real referees will be on the field tonight in baltimore. scout's dishonor. the boy scouts of america taking heat for releasing a survey in response to a sex abuse scandal. a new lead that could solve one of america's great mysteries. the search for jimmy hoffa begins outside a suburban detroit home. good morning, everybody. welcome to "early start." we're so glad you're with us on a thursday. it's 6:00 in the east. i'm alina cho. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. he's hosting "starting point." the agony is finally over for

you. starting tonight, millions of football fans will once again be able to boo the real referees. >> that's right. >> the nfl lockout is officially over. the blown call that ignited national outrage on monday night shoved a little fire under the league, because the nfl and its referees signed off on a new eight-year collective bargaining agreement. this happened in the wee hours of the morning. >> that's right. eight years, that is unprecedented. it means no more replacement refs. the real refs will be on the field tonight. roger goodell confirming the regular officials will be back on the field when the baltimola ravens host the cleveland browns. jason carroll joins us. and it's pretty clear they had to move quickly after that awful call. these replacement refs really didn't have integrity, did they? >> they were doing the best job they could, but you had a lot of these replacement players and they had no experience with professional ball. some of them being pulled out of high school. there was an argument that they

were doing the best that they could. obviously not good enough. what we saw was a lot of disrespect on the field. look at what happened with bill belichick being fined, what, $50,000 for inappropriately grabbing one of the referee on the field. you had a washington redskins assistant who was fined $25,000 for abuse of officials. you had some of the players tweeting about their frustration with the game. you had the president weighing in. so you had so many factors. you had the fans calling in about that bad call. so so many variables going on, both sides had to come back to the table and reach some sort of an agreement. >> that issue in las vegas, also. you start to wonder, really, where was the most pressure applied here in order to get this deal reached at the 11th hour here. >> i think it was an argument that it was really the fans. you had 70,000 fans calling into the nfl after monday night's game. you had all of this public pressure to get both of these sides back to the table to reach some sort of an agreement. >> and we mentioned the the eight-area deal, unprecedented.

some of the details are coming in now, right? what can you tell us about that? we've got -- the pay has gone up, obviously. >> the refs are going to be happy about that. >> who got the better end of the deal? >> i think it's basically the refs who got the better end of the deal. look, they department want to give up their pension, they got to keep their pension, they didn't have to switch to a 401(k). they got a bump in pay raise, up from $105,000 a year to $205,000 a year by 2019. it's very clear that both sides are happy with what happened. i want to get to some of the reaction, if i may, coming in from both sides. the nfl commissioner saying, quote, this agreement supports long-term reforms that will make officiating better. the teams, players, and fans want and deserve both consistency and quality in officiating. also, the referee association president saying, we are glad to be getting back on the field for this week's game. so, clearly, both sides happy with this agreement. at least publicly.

>> exactly. glad you qualified that. all right, jason carroll, we appreciate it. a lot of football fans really happy this morning. so let's bring in former nfl referee, redd cashen. he's a veteran league official of over 40 years who's worked two super bowls and currently trains and works with the nfl's regular refs. he was asked to help train the replacement officials, but we understand, sir, that you refused. red cashen, thank you for being with us this morning. we really appreciate it. we just put up the details of that deal. from your perspective, do you think that the referees got a good deal here? >> well, you're telling me something i don't know anything about. i guess it was worked out while i was asleep last night, so i'm glad i'm listening to you. >> listen, let me tell you some of the details here so you can weigh in. because you have a lot of experience here. so the average pay is increasing from $149,000 to now $205,000, this is by 2019, but the nfl

gets to bring on additional officials who could be used to work the games. they can also hire full-time year-round officials starting in 2013. both were seen as a possible threat to the job security of the regular refs, so what do you think? >> well, i think that the nfl has always wanted the best quality in everything they do, and i believe that what they were really after was something to continue the good program of developing officials. you have to remember that in the past, they've had nfl europe, which they use as a training base for officials. have a chance to work with them, give them experience in the professional game itself. when the nfl europe no longer existed, they were looking for a way to have some sort of development system. and that's what they really wanted to accomplish. and i think it's just further evidence of the league's desire to make the gape the best sport

game in the country. >> so the commissioner's taken a lot of heat, you know, in the last couple of days, and even before this. a lot of people wondering, why he let it get to this point. what do you think about that? >> well, i don't know the answer to that. i think both sides had their minds made up of things they wanted to accomplish, and perhaps it just took a little nudging on each side and a little giving on each side to get things worked out. but apparently, they did, and i think that's going to be a good arrangement between both the officials and the league. and we'll continue the game in the tradition that it has been in the past. >> i have just one final question for you. why did you refuse to help train the replacement referees? >> well, the trainers there are a total of nine of us, work very

closely with the regular officials. and it was our belief that if we worked with the temporary officials, that we would not have the same reception when we continued to work with the regular officials, and we thought over the long haul, for the benefit of the league, it was best that we not work with the temporary officials. >> all right. former nfl referee, red cashion, thanks for taking some time with us this morning. we appreciate it. >> my pleasure #. seven minutes past the hour. an army general facing a possible court-martial for alleged sex crimes. brigadier general jeffrey sinclair has been charged with numerous violation of military law, including wrongful sexual conduct and inappropriate relationships with female subordinates. sinclair served five combat tours in iraq and afghanistan, most recently as deputy commander of the 82nd airborne in afghanistan. listen to this. air force one had to abort an

initial landing at an ohio airport as it was flying president obama to a campaign event. the pilot deciding to pull up, circle around and try again. reporters on board say the jet hit some bad weather and turbulence on approach to toledo express airport. news crews on the ground were initially a bit confused about what was going on. moments after this flyover you see there, you could actually hear someone on the ground say, that was interesting. air force one, of course, landed safely on the second trial. the boy scouts of america releasing what they call an independent study that claims children were safer from sex abuse in their care than they were at home or at school. that study prepared by a psychiatric expert hired by the boy scouts after a newspaper reported the organization failed to report hundreds of suspected child molesters to police. s.n.a.p., a sex abuse support group, calls the scout's study self-serving and the writing of a spin doctor. university of california is

offering to settle a class action lawsuit brought by 21 students who were pepper sprayed at close range by a police officer during a demonstration last year. you remember this, right? the incident was caught on camera and instantly went viral. if approved by a court, the university will pay $30,000 to each student. they were part of an occupy wall street protest on the davis campus. eight minutes past the hour. the search for jimmy hoffa resumes tomorrow at a home in suburban detroit. investigators plan to drill underneath the concrete driveway and test soil samples for human remains. they're working off a tip from a man who claims that a body was buried in roseville, michigan, at around the same time the teamster's leader disappeared. this was back in 1975. police say the test results should be available next week. now something completely different. j.k. rowling's first novel for adults is as far removed from

the world of harry potter as you can imagine. "the casual vacancy" is what it's called. it features sex, drugs, and swearing and it's enough to make any wizard blush. the book arrives in stores today. and keep it ehere. because at the bottom of the hour, we'll talk more about the j.k. rowling book with someone who's actually read it. he is malcolm jones, a culture writer, and he's known j.k. rowling for a very long time, interviewed her a lot over the years, and that's why he was able to get his hands on this early copy before anybody else. >> it will be interesting to get his perspective since he knows her so well. all right, so a terror scare staged on the streets of phoenix. why one man, look at this, went to extremes to prove a point. that's coming up. ♪

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welcome back. it's 14 minutes after the hou the mideast takes center stage at the u.n. general assembly today. palestinians expected to campaign for expanded status at the u.n., but stopping short of seeking full statehood, at least for now. israel's prime minister taking the podium just minutes later. foreign affairs reporter elise labott is here with a preview. so elise, good morning. good to see you again. what can we expect from mahmoud abbas and the israeli prime minister today? >> let's start with president abbas. last year everybody remembers this dramatic show on the floor of the u.n. general assembly when he said it was time for a palestinian state to be recognized by the u.n. afterwards, there was so much consternation, international community, the united states started withholding some aid for u.n. organizations, considering this. and so i think this year, he's going to be a little bit more subdued. he's going to talk about that it

is time for this. but i think he's going to hold off calling for a vote. >> it has something to do with the u.s. elections, doesn't it? he's mindful of that? >> i think he's waiting until after the election, until he really makes the case. so i think -- and there are some efforts to try to get him to talk with prime minister netanyahu this week at the u.n., but prime minister netanyahu has one agenda in mind. and this is iran. and i think that he's really going to kind of give a final warning to the international community. he's going to lay out how far is iran going to go before israel's and the world should be taking some steps. so i think that he's going to be very forceful, trying to make his case that this is really a threat to international security. >> okay. so let's stick with iran here and the president there. yesterday, you said he would go gangbusters, and you're not typically wrong. >> it happens, on occasion. it happens, on occasion. i really did think, and all his comments leading up to the united nations, his press

conference, very strong about israel. you know, we've been talking about how u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon and perhaps even the supreme leader of iran himself said, you may want to tone it down. so israel launched -- or issued this statement even before he spoke, saying his words against israel are horrible. and then he went on and he talked about this kind of world, you know, domination by the united states and others, talking for a new world order. but he didn't necessarily even mention israel by name. he was very subdued, i think. and everybody was a little disappointed. they were looking for vintage ahmadinejad, because he's leaving. this is his last u.n. general assembly. >> nonetheless, the u.s. candidate and israel were not present during that. >> there was like nobody in the hall. you know, we've seen people walking out in previous years, it was pretty much empty. >> they didn't even come in. >> what he did talk about was a double standard. i want to play a little bit of this on the nuclear weapons and then i want to talk to you about that. >> translator: there is no trust or just authority to help

resolve world conflicts. no one feels secure or safe, even those who have a stockpile, thousands of atomic bombs and other arms in their arsenals. >> so there's this thought that hypocrisy in the middle east, there's actually a great piece on cnn.com about it. what's your take on that? >> that's sara sidner's piece. she's our correspondent in jerusalem. and what this is all about is, there's this kind of elephant in the room, you know, the emperor wears in clothes, if you will, that israel has a nuclear program that no one really talks about. israel's believed to have 200 nuclear weapons, yet we're only talking about iran's nuclear program. so he has, even ahmadinejad, but other countries have said, there should be a nuclear free middle east. because if you see iran go nuclear and israel's nuclear, then all these other countries, saudi arabia, qatar, other countries in the region are going to say, well, why shouldn't we all have nuclear weapons? so i think there is a concern and there has been a movement over the last couple of years to have a nuclear-free middle east.

the united states, very silent on this, because they think israel should be able to have a secret nuclear arsenal. >> i was reading that people are buying gas masks. they're just so worried. >> not looking good. >> elise labott, thank you. all right. 16 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date, shall we? the referee lockout and america's long nightmare -- really, good gracious -- it's over. the nfl and its referees reaching an eight-year collective bargaining agreement last night. so there will be no more replacement refs. the regular zebras you love to hate will be back on the field tonight. >> how happy are seahawks fans and packers fans, for that matter. an arizona filmmaker is accused of putting his 16-year-old nephew up to the task of pretending to be a terrorist. this happened in phoenix. you can see there, even made him run around phoenix at an intersection, holding a fake grenade launcher while wearing a

sheet. investigators say michael turley was trying to test police response time in the wake of the movie theater massacre in aurora, colorado. he faces various charges relating to faking a terrorist act. charges are pending against his nephew. >> that could be a disastrous ending if people would have taken that into their own hands, right? okay, it's a willy wonka and the chocolate factory for the 21st century. nestle has hidden gps tracking devices in six chocolate bar wrappers, so the company can track you down and send in commandos to give you a briefcase full of cash. cash! that's according to the ad. >> we will scramble a crack team of highly trained individuals. they will board a helicopter, find the special bar, and give the element 10,000 pounds. >> listen to this. it's part of the "we will find you" promo campaign, but can

guess what, only in the uk. >> that's why the kit cat wrapper looks different. >> you would know. >> i certainly do. >> they would get about $16,000 american. i say start importing those kit c kat. >> that's the first thing i noticed. the u.s. transportation department reports progress in reducing airport delays on tarmacs. if caught in a delay, you have rights as a passenger. >> we do? >> yes. >> that brings us to today's road warrior segment. the transportation of department says fines nearly eliminated lengthy tarmac delays, however, but they still do happen. we do know that. and if you're unlucky enough to experience one, what can you do? >> know your rights. they must give you food and drinking water within two hours of the delay. plus, they have to keep cab tin temperatures comfortable and the bathrooms operating.

they also have to give you status updates at least every 40 minutes and tell you if you can leave the plane. >> power up your ipad, bring reading material and a fully charged phone. also bring food. i like to bring healthy food along. almonds are always great. if you're on a flight and suspect they aren't complying with tarmac rules, you can call or e-mail the department of transportation. it might not help you right now, but they may help you later. they may not immediately be able to fix that problem. >> and you feel better when you complain. 21 minutes past the hour. we haven't reached fiscal cliff quite yet, but it has having an effect on some americans. christine romans is breaking it all down for us, coming up.

the wheels of progress. seems they haven't been moving much lately. but things are starting to turn around

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all right. don't mind us. 25 minutes after the hour. minding your business this morning, u.s. stock futures are up. this is welcome news after the s&p 500 closed lower for the fifth straight day yesterday. that's right, it was all zpoom gloom, because of concerns about europe, particularly greece and spain as protesters hit the streets in athens and madrid, still going on there. not getting any better. christine romans is here to talk a little bit more about that. hey, good morning. >> good morning. those pictures were really frightening, weren't they? and a lot of people on wall street were watching those, because we're very concerned about what's happening in europe. and also here, concerned about the fiscal cliff. because american ceos are warning that it hasn't happened yet and it will hurt jobs. ceos of fortune 500 companies say they will hire fewer people

and investless in the next six months because of the uncertainty surrounding the fiscal cliff. i want to pause here, the fiscal cliff, as you know, massive tax increases, big job layoffs, the cbo, the congressional budget office say it would be a big, big recession in the beginning of the year. the boeing ceo says the uncertainty is cold water on long-term planning. even if they fix it in the eleventh hour, companies right now are already starting to plan for next year. they are building new factories, they are building new facilities. they're expanding and trying to hire. they're not going to do that if they don't know what's going to happen with the fiscal cliff. this is a survey conducted by the business roundtable, a lobbying group, and found only 29% of ceos say they expect to hire more employees in the next six months. last quarter, 36% said they would be hiring. so you can see. and i'm not always -- look, i don't always take ceos at their face value, as you know. sometimes i think that they use

things like the fiscal cliff as an excuse, because they've got a lot of money in the bank, they're making profits, they don't have to hire. but this time, if thbfiscal cli this is real serious. and people who say, oh, congress will fix it at the last minute. it's not good for america to fix things the last minute, because people are making plans right now for next year. >> especially in a situation like that. you're always thinking, fiscal cliff, we've got time, we've got time. but you're saying. >> there's no time. >> one thing -- well, two things. one thing about the fiscal cliff, though. i want people to be aware, next year the payroll tax holiday is going to go away, so you'll get a little bit less out of your paycheck. maybe $45 less. so a lot of things are changing for your money. it's really important. the one thing you need to know about your money today, futures are signaling a higher open for stocks. how it ends, though, today, depends on the economic data. looking up for housing and confidence. we'll get durable goods, jobless claims, and housing sales.

>> thank you. >> thanks, christine. national treasure is going green, and we're not talking about recycling or solar panels. that story, see it there? that story is coming up. >> algae green, right? >> algae green. 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge! with two times the points on dining in restaurants,?

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mega-selling author j.k. rowl g rowling's new book, aimed at adults. it is out this morning. standing by their man. embattled congressman todd akin gets some key support in his run for a missouri senate seat. come over to the tv. there she blows. a very, very rare white whale spotted for the first time in decades. that's an albino whale. incredibly rare. welcome back to "early start." we've got more pictures for you. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> good morning, zoraida, good morning, everybody. so glad you're with us. i'm aalina cho. a giant exhale this morning for football fans across the country. that's right, no more replacement refs. 48 hours after that blown call that sparked national outrage, the nfl reached an eight-year clktive bargaining agreement with its refreferees. the lockout is over, effective

immediately. that means the regular officials you love to hate are back. commissioner roger goodell confirming they will be on the field tonight when the baltimore ravens host the cleveland browns. so it has been five years since the last midnight book release party. a year since danielle radcliffe starred in the final film. harry potter books sold a staggering 55 million copies worldwide, the movies grossing over $7 billion. that's enough to make j.k. rowling one of the richest women in the entire world. but today rowling is leaving that world behind, publishing a new book. it is for adults. it is called "the casual vaca y vacancy," and it is a far cry from hogwarts. malcolm jones has interviewed rowling numerous times and is one of the first to read the highly anticipated novel and he is joining us this morning. thank you for being with us. you have a copy right there in

your hands. you have read it. what do you think? >> i think it's a good book. it's fun to read. it took me two days to read it and i just sort of roared right through it. it's written with the same kind of velocity that the harry potter books have. >> but it's a departure for her, right? >> very much. >> tell us about the nitty-gritty of the book? >> it's set in a small town in england and about all the sort of pettiness and back-biting and infighting that goes on in small towns and how people sort of cut each other up. but it's also a book about power and how people abuse power and, you know, sort of keep their foot on the necks of the downtrodden and that kind of thing. >> a lot of people are saying -- well, not a lot of people, j km rowling herself had an interview, and it sounds like this is an intensely personal book, with perhaps even personal experience. let's listen and then i want you to talk about that. >> okay. >> you've gone, it seems to me, from the ultimate fantasy to the ultimate reality. >> yeah, i think that's fair -- a very fair statement.

i have gone from dragons and unicorns and all the fun that's involved in writing that to a book that's intensely personal, that expresses a lot of my reality. >> she says "my reality." and there are a lot of gritty details in this book, right? there's cutting that's involved in this book. and she talks about that. do you think that this is her personal reality? i know that you've had experience with her. you've interviewed her many times. >> yes. i don't think it's, you know, it's like an autobiographical novel, no, i don't. i think that we all know that she had, you know, sort of a legendarily rough time of it when she was writing the harry potter books. you know, she was not well off and writing in cafes and trying to raise a single daughter. i think if you look at the harry potter books, i was thinking about this morning, in fact, after i'd written my review, there are a lot of similarities between harry potter and this

book, in the sense that it's empowered people who want to hang on to their power, who look down on other people, in both stories. and that's sort of the axis on which everything turns, is this sense of unfairness. and her anger and her rage at that. >> the book deals, among other things, suicide, rape, heroin addiction, beatings and thoughts of patricide. it's just, on and on, things that we've never heard her talk about before, right? >> right. >> so how do you think this is going to fair with the audience? we know that it's not intended for children. >> oh, no. i think it will do well. i think it will appeal -- i think there are like late teens and say high school or college who would read this book and identify with it very strongly, because the teens in the book, i think most of them, you're not supposed to like them all, but they're all sort of stuck in that powerlessness, they're stuck in those awful things that kids do, whether they're mean girls or mean boys. if i were a teenager, i would

relate to this book very strongly. >> well, it's been number one on amazon now for 11 weeks. so you recommend it? good reading? >> absolutely. >> all right. thank you very much, malcolm jones, culture writer for "newsweek" and the daily beast. thanks for being with us this morning. >> thank you. zoraida, back to you. his campaign ran into trouble with his remarks about " "legitimate rape," but now todd akin has picked up more support. jim demint and rick santorum urged voters to back akin and help republicans win the senate. akin's campaign ran into some trouble with those remarks earlier this year. there is a major problem with the newly renovated lincoln memorial reflecting pool in the nation's capital. look at that. it's full of algae. the pool only reopened a month ago, following a two-year, $34 million overhaul. the national parks service says there are a number of reasons for the algae bloom. among them, the reflecting pool

draws water from the nearby tidal basin, where algae grows naturally. also, algae loves warm weather. >> it's really a shame that they hadn't planned out this a little bit better, so you wouldn't have algae growing after all this time and money. >> reporter: all right, so the reflecting pool's filtering system is removing most of the algae, but some of it is also being removed by hand. that gives it the major yuck factor, alina. an extreme skier from the united states who survived sunday's deadly avalanche in the himalayas says he's lucky to be alive, but he's completely heartbroken because he couldn't save two of his friends who were still missing. at least eight people were killed in the disaster. glen take tells our anderson cooper he planned to ski down the eighth highest peak after reaching the summit, but the plan change very suddenly on sunday as plake lay in his tent,

reading his bible. >> we had been having some gusty winds throughout the night, and that was keeping you up, also, and sure enough, a gust of wind came that was beyond what i had felt. i told my partner, greg, when was in the tent with me, gosh, this is a really strong gust. greg said, this isn't a gust, it's an avalanche. >> what a harrowing ordeal. three people are still missing. rescue teams calling off the search for them this morning. we're going to switch gears here. it is a whale of a find. coming up, why this creature is thrilling tourists and researchers alike. those researchers are acting like kids. you're not going to want to miss this. bring your kids over to the tv set. we'll be right back. ♪

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good morning, baltimore. traffic moving very nicely there at 6:42 in the morning. 68 degrees right now. some scattered morning showers. and there's going to be some scattered evening showers as well with a high of 84. of course, we're looking at baltimore because there's a big nfl game tonight with the ravens and the cleveland browns. and guess what -- >> there are real refs. >> real referees. if you are just waking up, the nfl struck a deal with the refs last night. good morning, everybody. 43 minutes past. i'm alina cho. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. we'll get you up to date with the morning's top stories, and that is the top story. it will be at least eight years before football fans will have to endure the sight of another replacement ref. the nfl officials and the refs agreed to an eight-year deal.

the regular refs on the field for tonight's ravens/browns game in baltimore. >> as long as it doesn't get rained out. it's an outdoor stadium. >> they'll play through the rain. the mideast will dominate the u.n. general assembly today. palestinian president mahmoud abbas expected to campaign for a bump up to non-member observer status, stopping short of seeking full statehood, at least for now. later, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu will speak to the assembly too. a 19-year-old maryland man is one happy guy. he won $250,000 playing the mega millions lottery. but nick ruth is not taking a cruise around the world or is he planning to climb mt. everest? he's a survivor of leukemia, in remission for the past four years now. so nick is going to take a chunk of his newfound fortune and he is going to donate it to cancer organizations. >> i would like to at least give back to the community that gave to me, you know?

show them my gratitude and hopefully somebody else, just like someone helped me. >> what an incredible young man. so after taxes, nick ruth is going to walk away with a cool $165,000. don't we all wish our kids were like that? >> what a great, great, incredible thing he's done. a beauexample of beauty in nature. a rare albino whale spotted again swimming off the eastern coast of australia. what an incredible site. researchers have named the whale migaloo and say it's the only all-white humpback whale in the world. he was first spotted years ago when he was just a little baby and they believe he's now in his 20s. >> isn't it incredible? when you put them side by side, like a regular humpback whale and migaloo, it's very cool. these geeky scientists were jumping up and down, they could

barely speak. >> i think it's pretty cool too. our very own john berman is filling in for soledad o'brien this morning, and he's joining us with a look at what's ahead. >> it's like christmas morning, isn't it? the long national nightmare is over. we have real refs back on the field tonight. that is our top story. the refs will be on the field after reaching an agreement with the nfl. we'll be talking to red cashion about what this deal means for us, the fans, because it's all about u.s. and could we be closer to solving one of our nation's most enduring mysteries? a new tip that could finally, finally lead police to jimmy hoffa's body. and it is one of the most anticipated releases of the year. j.k. rowling's new book is on sale today, but no magic of hogwar hogwarts, really. my understanding is, you know, fewer wizards, more sex in this book. >> something like that. it's a little dark. >> as for that nfl deal, and

great news for your boston red sox. >> yeah, exactly. no. sadly nothing will help the red sox, not even a football ref. but thanks for rubbing that in. appreciate that. >> okay, sorry. anyway, we'll see you later. see you at the top of the hour. the early birds get to cast votes in a key swing state today. coming up, the new push by both candidates to try to get an edge. we'll talk with our paul steinhauser, next. thanks for babysitting the kids, brittany. so how much do we owe you? that'll be $973.42. ya know, your rates and fees aren't exactly competitive. who do you think i am, quicken loans? [ spokesman ] when you refinance your mortgage with quicken loans, you'll find that our rates and fees are extremely competitive. because the last thing you want is to spend too much on your mortgage. one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. ♪ of more than 550 miles you'll inevitably find yourself on a desolate highway

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51 minutes after the hour. welcome back to "early start." we start with presidential politics now. a day after both candidates were talking jobs in ohio, president obama and mitt romney campaigned today in another key battle groun state, we're talking about virginia. meantime, early voting begins today in iowa, another swing state. president obama hoping to keep his edge in the swing states with a new ad released just this morning. >> it's time for a new economic patriotism, rooted in the belief that growing our economy starting with a strong, thriving middle class. read my plan. compare it to governor romney's and decide for yourself. >> cnn political editor paul steinhauser leave in our washington bureau. paul, good to see you. good morning. let's talk about virginia. we know that president obama has the edge, the question is by how much. >> let's take a look at this. here's our cnn poll of polls, alina. we take the most recent, nonpartisan surveys, average them together, and here's where

it stands in virginia when you add all those polls together and you can see the president with an advantage there, six points. it's a similar advantage to the other battleground states like ohio where he was yesterday, where both men were yesterday. this actually is the ninth visit today in virginia for the president. it's also going to be the ninth swing through the state for mitt romney. just shows how important virginia is. remember, president obama, then senator obama four years ago, he became the first democrat to win virginia in a presidential election since 1964. and alina, one part of mitt romney's strategy of winning the white house is taking back some of those states that traditionally voted republican like virginia, north carolina, and indiana. all states that the president won four years ago. >> and also ohio as we were talking about earlier, another important battleground. no republican has ever won the white house without winning ohio. >> reporter: exactly. >> also want to talk a little bit about something that romney likes to talk a lot about on the trail, which is his experience in business and how he's best to lead the economy back into recovery. but what's interesting is that he's actually losing his edge in at least three swing states on

the economy, right? break down those numbers for us. >> reporter: this is fascinating. because what is the story behind those top-line polls? what's the numbers behind the numbers? a lot of it is the economy. a lot of polls now are indicating that americans are becoming more optimistic about how things are going in the country and also about the economy. and romney's edge, take a look at this, from this quinnipiac/cbs/"new york times" poll, you can see they surveyed in three states, and who does a better job on the economy? the president has a slight advantage. it was a very different story not too long ago. >> i want to talk about some comments that newt gingrich made that caused a little bit of a ruckus. there was a little bit of a back and forth between gingrich and romney. and of course, gingrich, never one to hold his tongue, had some choice words for romney, didn't he? >> reporter: he sure did. he was on "the situation room" yesterday. and of course gingrich and romney battled it out earlier this year, along with others, for the nomination. well, gingrich gave some advice

on what's maybe not working for romney. take a listen. >> the romney campaign has yet to find a thematic way of explaining itself and laying out in a clear, crisp way the difference between romney and obama. it's clearly something you can go out and you can communicate and you can do dramatically better than romney's currently doing. >> just be who you are. others say, get tougher, attack. and my own view is this. i've got to be who i am and describe why i think i'm the person that's going to become the next president of the united states, and how my policies will make life better for american families. >> reporter: mitt romney getting a lot of advice right now, just six days away from the first presidential debate. >> unbelievable, first to have three. all right, paul steinhauser, thanks so much. 54 minutes past the hour. a heads up if you're traveling in the northeast. a dreary start weather wise. rob marciano has all of the details for us. good morning. >> good morning, guys. the good news is, it's not only the northeast. so you're not in this alone.

>> misery loves company. >> exactly, guys! listen, a little stream of moisture, it's not a whole lot right now, at least east of new york city, pretty dry right now in boston, but west of new york through jersey and the delaware valley, some heavier pulses of rain moving the through there. up the ohio river as well, across the mississippi and into the boot heel of missouri, we're looking at thunderstorms. some of these are dumping a decent amount of rainfall. they will take it in oklahoma, where they could certainly use the rain across western parts of the plains as well. they don't really want the severe weather. that's a possibility, from the texas and oklahoma panhandle, north and westward into southeast colorado. large hail and maybe some damaging winds with them. north of the front, lacking good as far as dry weather. south of the front, it's warm and humid for the end of september, 90 plus in dallas, ac still humming there. that's a quick check on weather. "early start"'s coming right back. your boa! [ garth ] thor's small business earns double miles on every purchase, every day! ahh, the new fabrics, put it on my spark card. [ garth ] why settle for less?

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58 minutes after the hour. we're going to wrap it up as always with best advice. >> and today we hear from author and comedian b.j. mendelson. take a look. >> back in high school, i had a teacher named mr. james. i had always sorts of crazy catchphrases, but it wasn't the catchphrase that stuck with me. at the end of my last class with them, he said, brandon, if you keep working the way you are, you'll be bagging groceries for the rest of your life. that really stuck with me and the moment that the light went off in my head, and thought, wow, i have to work harder than what i'm doing. it was that little piece of advice that led to all this. >> always great advice. >> and teachers, really, you just never know when you have an impact, a lasting impact on a student. so that's fantastic. >> that's "early